“I am so inspired by my visits to the farm,” I told my father on the phone.

Without seeing his face, I could feel he was finding my words amusing.

My father grew up on a farm with tractors, cows and horses. And I grew up following my grandmother in the large garden she kept at the back of the house, to see the chicken and rabbits, and fetch salad, saucissons and pâtés whenever we stayed over for dinner. The best I’ve ever eaten to this day.

I was thinking about all of these things: The transition to Spring (so happy to see all of the snow melted!) that I don’t want to miss; settle more in our house (a.k.a. empty boxes and tidy the mess that is still around); plant a garden; and introduce Lulu, step by step, to glimpses of the beautiful farm life that surrounds us. I know she can appreciate it already. If she finds moutons and poules irresistible, she is getting it. I would so much have loved that her great grandfather could watch her pet the goat and inquire about cows and chicken. He, too, would have found that amusing.

And then there is my book. And the final piece of work I have to do with it.

So you know, I am currently revising the proofs. And oh let me tell you how good that feels!

So much so.

As I flip through the pages and recall the many hours I’ve worked behind the stove, in front of my laptop or behind the camera, I am simply moved.

So, to help, I visited farms. And do you know what? It really helped.

I had forgotten how adorable baby goats look when they play. I had forgotten how amazing witnessing the birth of a few baby lamb is.

“It’s incredible,” I told Mia who kindly walked me through the farm when I came.

“Lulu begs that we come every day,” I went on, laughing. “It feels like we belong here too.”

I loved that idea, in fact. And knew we’d come again and again.

The day of my visit, I cooked a tart. A savory tart.

I had leftovers of crust used for a savory tart recipe I’d written for food author Ashley English, who had kindly invited me to collaborate to her upcoming new cookbook.

“Do you mind if it is gluten free?” I asked her when she emailed me.

“I love it!”

Hence this was how this gluten free tart crust was born.

And then this savory tart, which I threw together quickly with what I had handy when I returned from the farm feeling hungry.

Don’t ask but that type of food somehow connected me to my day on the farm even more.

It was exactly what I wanted to eat.

Tartelettes aux légumes verts

For the crust:

You need:

1/2 cup millet flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1.5 teaspoons xantham gum

0.5 teaspoon sea salt

7 tablespoons (100 g) cold butter, diced

1 egg

4 (or more as needed) tablespoons cold water

Steps:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flours, xantham gum and salt. Add the butter and use the pulse option to work this mixture into crumbles.

Add the egg and continue to pulse.

Add the water, one tablespoon at a time and work until the dough detaches from the bowl.

Transfer to a bowl and cover. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. Bring back to room temperature before using.

For the topping:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 large leek, white part only, finely chopped

1 medium zucchini, finely grated

Sea salt and pepper

1 garlic clove, finely minced

2 eggs

1/4 cup crème fraiche

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon chopped coriander

1 oz grated Comté cheese

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 400 F and garnish four 4.5-inch tartlet mold with the crust–you will have leftovers of dough, which you can freeze or use for something else. Make small holes at the bottom of each with a fork and set aside.

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When warm, add the leek and zucchini and ground coriander. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 3 more minutes, until soft but not brown. Stop the heat.

In a bowl, beat the eggs with the crème fraiche. Stir in the milk and fresh coriander. Add the cooked vegetables and stir in the Comté cheese.

Divide the vegetable batter between the tartlets and bake the tartlets for 25 minutes, or until the flan is set. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving with a salad.

Such beautiful photos of the animals! I love the wonderful feeling of connection that you feel when you visit them. And this combination of flours – I’m going to try this soon. I’ve not had much experience using different types in one dish, so I’m looking forward to learning! Thanks Béa!

Poppies absolutely come to me from our visits to France. I’ll never forget driving from Nice towards the French Alps to Geneva and seeing all of the poppy fields. That is not something you see in the US! We even found a wonderful artist in one of the tiny towns and bought his painting of a poppy field that hangs in my kitchen today. You tart looks savory and delicious! I’m getting there with my photography but its a slow road for sure!! Constant effort.

In rural New England where I live, we’ve still got quite a bit of snow in the planting beds, but I’m hopeful the rain this week will blow it out. Gorgeous photos. And love the millet/buckwheat flour mix. So very springy.

You’ve got me so wanting it to be Spring, Béa! When our son was Lulu’s age, we lived next to a couple who had a small hobby farm. We would be greeted every morning at the fence by sheep and guinea hens. Fresh eggs were just a short walk away and in Summer, there were always veggies sent our way. How nice was that! I miss those days. I’m going to make your tart today, sounds delicious. Can’t wait to see the book!

The lambs took me back to when as a child we visited my Mothers foster parents farm, I used to sit in the lambing sheds and feed the orphan lambs with a bottle. Its lambing time where I live now sure sign spring is coming.

This post brings back such great memories! I used to go to Drumlin Farm as a kid…I still vividly remember holding a new born lamb about 25 years ago. Those are great memories to pass on to your daughter. Thanks for the lovely pictures!

Poppies are my favorite flowers. My favorite picture is a painting we have in our home with a field of careless poppies. The savory tart also looks really good. I am feeling inspired by this recipe to try one out

Béatrice Peltre is a food writer, stylist and photographer working out of her home studio in Boston.
She is a regular contributor to the Boston Globe Food Section, and her work has appeared in many publications
such as Saveur, Food and Wine, Whole Living, Fine Cooking, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, the Huffington Post,
the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, Edible Boston, Living France, the New York Times Diner’s Journal,
and in many other international magazines.